Thomas Krens to Step Down as Director of Guggenheim Foundation

Thomas Krens To Step Down As Director Of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation To Assume Leadership Role In Developing The New Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

(NEW
YORK, February 28, 2008) -- William Mack, Chairman of The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation announced today that later this year, Thomas Krens will step down as
its director, a position he has held since 1988 once
his successor has been found. Mr. Krens will continue with the
Foundation as the Senior Advisor for International Affairs, developing
and overseeing all aspects of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, its largest and
most complex project to date, and other designated special projects.

“During Thomas Krens’ tenure, the Guggenheim Foundation has become one
of the most important, influential and prestigious cultural
institutions in the world,” said William Mack, Chairman of the Board.
“We owe Tom our gratitude for his leadership, dedication and vision.
His contribution to re-imagining museums is a gift that has benefited –
and will continue to enhance – the entire cultural community."

With
Mr. Krens assuming this new role focusing on the Abu Dhabi project, the
Foundation Board Search Committee, which includes Mr. Krens, has
redefined the parameters of the search to find a new director for the
New York museum, which began some months ago. The search will now focus
on recruiting a director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The
Foundation Director oversees and operates the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the
Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, Germany,
and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas.

“With
this succession plan, we feel that we can recruit the very best
candidate to build on what Thomas Krens has created, even as we utilize
Tom’s special talents to insure that the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi becomes
one of the greatest new institutions in the world,” said Mr. Mack. “The
Guggenheim Foundation directorship is one of the premier positions in
the museum and institutional world, calling for the broadest range of
talent and skill,” said Mr. Mack. “We expect interest will be high and
that the candidates will be top tier.” The Foundation’s Board of
Directors says it plans an intensive, comprehensive global search to
recruit Mr. Krens’ successor.

In his new role, Mr. Krens will focus on the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi --
the largest and most complex initiative ever undertaken by the
Foundation, which is scheduled for a 2012 opening. The Frank O.
Gehry-designed museum at 452,000 square feet will be 35 percent larger
than the Guggenheim Bilbao. In terms of acquisitions and exhibitions,
the project is also extremely ambitious, with a stated objective to
focus broadly on modern and contemporary art from a truly global
perspective, including the Middle East, Asia, and Africa as well as art
of Europe and the Americas.

In
his 20 years heading the Foundation, Mr. Krens, 61, oversaw an
active, transformative period for the Foundation. His role spanned
every facet of the institution, as he served as chief executive,
curator, visionary, fundraiser, and entrepreneur. As he leaves the
post, the institution is prepared for the future. In the last 15 years,
the Foundation endowment has increased six-fold, to $118 million, and
its permanent collection has grown more than 60 percent. Beginning in
1989, Mr. Krens negotiated a second major gift of Impressionist
paintings from the widow of Justin Thannhauser; acquired the famed
Panza di Biumo collection of American minimalist art; and initiated and
implemented the program for commissioning major international artists
such as Jeff Koons, James Rosenquist, Rachel Whiteread, and Gerhard
Richter at the Deutsche Guggenheim among many others. The commissioned
works have entered the Guggenheim collection. Mr. Krens also designed
and led the acquisitions program of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which
has acquired major installations of Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, Jenny
Holzer, and Louise Bourgeois.

Under
Mr. Krens’ direction, attendance at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York has more than doubled to over 900,000 visitors per year, and
attendance at the Guggenheim museums worldwide is approximately 2.7
million, with traveling exhibitions in other internationally acclaimed
venues drawing an additional million visitors.

With Mr. Krens serving as Chief Artistic Officer of the Foundation as
well as its Director, the Guggenheim has presented many award-winning
programs and exhibits, maintaining and fortifying its place among the
ranks of the world’s top museums. Since 1992, the Guggenheim
Foundation has produced more than 275 different exhibitions. These
projects have ranged from definitive retrospectives of major American
and international artists-- such as Roy Lichtenstein, Robert
Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Ellsworth Kelly, Jenny Holzer, Nam Jun
Paik, and Matthew Barney – to historical surveys of 20th art such as The Great Utopia: the Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde 1915-1932, (1992) Abstraction in the 20th Century, Picasso and the Age of Iron (1993); and Russia! (2005).

In
keeping with the move toward internationalism, Mr. Krens initiated a
program of exhibitions that explore the historical and indigenous
cultures of various parts of the world, including Africa: The Art of a Continent (1996); China: 5000 Years (1998); Brazil: Body and Soul (2001); and The Aztec Empire (2004). Mr. Krens has also expanded the Guggenheim programming into architecture and design with such landmark exhibitions as The Art of the Motorcycle (1998), The Architecture of Frank Gehry (2001); Giorgio Armani: A Retrospective (2002); and Zaha Hadid: Architect (2006).

At present, Mr. Krens is co-curator for a retrospective exhibition of Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe,
the first Chinese artist to be presented in a major retrospective at
the Guggenheim Museum, which opened on February 22nd and will open at
the National Art Museum of China on August 2008, during the Beijing
Olympics.

On
the international front, Mr. Krens also spearheaded alliances and
developed facilities designed by world renowned architects outside New
York, establishing the Guggenheim brand and extending its influence and
reputation around the globe. During his tenure, the Guggenheim
Foundation doubled the size of Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, the home of
the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and established three new
museums, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Deutsche Guggenheim and the
Guggenheim Hermitage Museum Las Vegas. The Foundation also partnered
with the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, to create a major
cooperative programming entity.

In
New York, Mr. Krens twice directed restoration and expansion projects
at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Foundation’s flagship museum
on Fifth Avenue. The first, completed in 1992, was an $80 million
restoration of the interior of the landmark Frank Lloyd Wright
building, the construction of a ten story tower gallery and office
building designed by Gwathmey Siegel Associates, and the addition of a
new storage and technical services facility on New York’s West Side.
Recently, he has overseen a $29 million project to restore all aspects
of the Wright building including significant portions of the
infrastructure. The current restoration will be completed in the summer
of 2008.

“It
has been an honor to serve as director of this magnificent institution
and to add to its strength and reputation,” said Mr. Krens. “I have
enjoyed the support of a wise and progressive board of directors who
were a great help in providing counsel and direction as we faced many
challenges and sought to redefine the boundaries of what a museum could
achieve. I have enjoyed working with the most professional and
dedicated group of colleagues imaginable. From interns to art handlers,
from curators to conservators, working with such a remarkable team was
the greatest benefit of my years at the Guggenheim.”

As
Mr. Krens now prepares to devote the majority of his time to the
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, he said, “The scope and scale of the Guggenheim
Abu Dhabi is truly spectacular and I am delighted to be taking up the
challenge of this project for the Foundation. We will be programming
and collecting for what we hope is a new model for a universal
contemporary museum. And I am looking forward to working again with
Frank Gehry, to create the next chapter in the evolution of the public
art museum. We are expecting that he will produce a breathtaking design
that will address the needs of a rapidly changing and expanding
international art world. What has been learned from the Tate, Bilbao
and other new museums throughout the world will be the point of
departure for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Our objective is to make
something completely new, the best museum of modern and contemporary
art in the world.”

“We
are delighted that Tom will be able to devote his full attention and
considerable talents to the development and management of this project
to maximize its huge potential,” said Mr. Mack. “He is uniquely
qualified, through experience and vision, to provide the leadership
that will be needed to move this critical project to completion.”

Thomas
Krens was named Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in
1988. He graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in political
economy in 1969. He holds a M.A. in art from the State University of
New York, and a M.B.A. from Yale University. From 1971 to 1988, he was
an Assistant Professor in the Art Department at Williams College; in
1981 he also became Director of the Williams College Museum of Art.
Through his position at Williams in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mr.
Krens was the originator and founding chairman of the Massachusetts
Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), one of the largest museums of
contemporary art in the world.

Under
Mr. Krens’ leadership, the Guggenheim Foundation has built an
unprecedented international network of cultural facilities and
alliances with major museums. Beginning in 1990, the Guggenheim
Foundation has developed a series of buildings contiguous to the
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, home of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, more
than doubling the size of the Venice museum. In 1991, Mr. Krens
negotiated the unique partnership between the Basque Regional
Government and the Guggenheim Foundation that produced the Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank O. Gehry. The Guggenheim in Bilbao
opened to wide public acclaim in October 1997. In November 1997, the
Deutsche Guggenheim — a museum space and exhibition facility designed
by American architect Richard Gluckman and located in the former East
Berlin — was opened as the result of joint venture between the
Guggenheim Foundation and Deutsche Bank A.G. and has since then
presented more than 30 highly acclaimed exhibitions and single artist
commissions to the Berlin public. In October 2001, the Guggenheim
opened another small, but architecturally important museum, the
Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas, designed by Rem Koolhaas.

Under
Mr. Krens’ direction, the Guggenheim Foundation has been a leader in
establishing international collaborations among major museums. In June
2000, the Guggenheim entered into a partnership with the State
Hermitage Museum (SHM) in St. Petersburg, Russia, and seven months
later with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna, Austria. The
purpose of the Guggenheim-SHM-KHM alliance is to share collections,
jointly develop exhibitions and educational programs that will benefit
a wide international audience, and cooperate on the construction of new
museums, primarily in Asia and Latin America. Combined, the collections
of the Guggenheim, Hermitage, and Kunsthistorisches Museums are the
largest in the world organized under one cooperative programming entity.

As
the chief artistic officer of the Guggenheim Foundation, Mr. Krens is
responsible for exhibitions and programming for all Guggenheim museums
worldwide. Since 1992, the Guggenheim has produced more than 275 major
exhibitions. These projects have encompassed definitive retrospectives
of major American and international artists including Matthew Barney,
Georg Baselitz, Francesco Clemente, Dan Flavin, Cai Guo-Qiang, Jenny
Holzer, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Mario Merz, Robert Morris,
Claes Oldenburg, Nam June Paik, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschenberg,
and James Rosenquist; historical surveys of 20th-century art such as The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932 (1992), Picasso and the Age of Iron (1993), The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943–1968 (1994), Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline (1996), and Kazimir Malevich: Suprematism (2003); and exhibitions that have presented the artistic heritage of many countries and regions: Africa: The Art of a Continent (1996), China: 5,000 Years (1998), Brazil: Body & Soul (2001), The Aztec Empire (2004), RUSSIA! (2005), and Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History (2006).

Likewise,
the collection has greatly expanded under Mr. Krens’ leadership.
Approximately 60-percent larger than it was in 1988, the Foundation’s
permanent collection has also increased greatly in depth and breadth.
Under Mr. Krens, the Foundation has made such major acquisitions as the
Panza Collection of Minimalist and Conceptual art of the 1960s and
1970s, the finest collection of vintage photographs by Robert
Mapplethorpe, and the Bohen Collection of multimedia art. The
Guggenheim’s holdings are now among the world’s most esteemed in the
area of contemporary photography and multimedia art.

Among
Mr. Krens’ major accomplishments at the Guggenheim in New York has been
the multi-phased restoration and expansion of the Frank Lloyd Wright
building. The first phase, completed in 1992, encompassed the
restoration of the interior of the landmark Frank Lloyd Wright
building, the construction of a 10-story tower gallery and office
building designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates, and the addition
of a new storage and technical services facility on New York City’s
West Side. In 2004, the Guggenheim successfully completed a campaign to
raise $29 million for the second phase of the capital project, to
restore the exterior facade and selected interior infrastructure
systems of the Wright building; work is currently underway, with
completion scheduled for the summer of 2008, in time for the 50th
anniversary of the building in 2009.

In
2007, Mr. Krens and the Board of Trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation signed an operating framework for a Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
with officials representing the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Designed by
architect Frank Gehry, the 452,000 square foot museum of modern and
contemporary art will be built on Saadiyat Island, adjacent to the main
island of Abu Dhabi city, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Mr.
Krens is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors, the
Réunion des Musées, the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, and the
Societé Kandinsky, Paris. He has received Honorary Doctorates from
Williams College, Yale University, and the State University of New York
at Albany and in 2000 was awarded the Special Prize for Architectural
Patronage at the Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2006 he was decorated
with the Order of the Aztec Eagle by the Government of Mexico, that
country’s highest award to a foreign national and in 2007, the American
Federation of Arts (AFA) honored Mr. Krens as a recipient of its
Cultural Leadership Award for his role in museum development and
programming nationally and internationally.